This novel by Jose V. Aguilar can, no doubt, stand on its own as a World War II historical document. Written immediately after the war, there will never be another like it. But it is the author's supreme mastery of his craft, displayed in the manner in which each character responds to and becomes imprinted by the barbarity of war that keeps the reader on edge, awaiting what is to come, as historical events and the criss-crossing lives of diverse personages unfold.